Overprotective?
by Dragon with a Shotgun
Summary: An training accident almost hurts Crystal, and before he knows it Raph has an outburst about the situation. His blood boils, and he takes it out on Mikey.


**TMNT**

By

Dragon with a Shotgun

**Overprotective?**

"Alright, you stay here, and don't go anywhere. Okay?" Raphael gently plopped the toddler on the floor against the wall, hiding his warm smile from the others by putting on a scowl and deepening his voice.

She looked up at him with a bright smile. She wore a pink t-shirt with a kitten print on the front on her chest, blue shorts, and white sandals. It had been a few days since she and the hot-headed ninja had interacted closely for the first time, and now they were even closer. But Raphael never showed it because of his pride, and every time she came close, he'd act miserable. But whenever they were alone, he'd let out his 'brother side', as you would call it. When his brothers asked about what they saw, her sleeping with him in his room, he simply said that he put her to bed, and woke up with her beside him. He had no clue how she got there. So, the others had no clue that he actually liked Crystal.

"Turtle!" she squeaked, crossing her legs. When the others weren't looking, he patted her head and smiled warmly at her before turning away and walking toward Mikey. Today they were training in the dojo again, this time using each other's weapons as an experiment. Mikey was going to use Raph's Sais and Raph was going to try out Mikey's Nunchaku. He fingered the weapon in his hands, frowning in doubt that he could even enjoy using these in a fight. But Mikey was eyeing the Sais in his grasp, his eyes large and a little confused. He had seen Raphael use these before, but he never paid too close attention to his fighting style.

"Uh… How exactly do you use these things?" he asked uncertainly, holding the handle of each of the Sais in his fists.

Raph rolled his eyes and replied flatly. "Like knives, stupid."

"With EXTRA caution, Michelangelo!" Leo shouted from the side, frowning slightly.

Mikey made a 'phht' noise and waved his hand at his older brother. "Don't sweat it, bro! I got this!"

Leo rolled his eyes, as did Donatello behind him. So Raph sighed and got into combat stance and held the Nunchaku securely in his hands. For a test, he swung them around a few times to make sure he was comfortable with them. Once he felt confident with them, he grinned at his brother across from him. Mikey looked down at the Sais in his hands and swallowed slightly. He swung them back and forth once or twice before nodding as a sign of being ready. Leo sighed.

"Go!"

Raph shot forward, twirling the Nunchaku in his hands, darting back and forth. Mikey tried to keep his eyes focused to him, but the spinning of the weapons in Raph's hands made him dizzy just by looking at them. He shook his head to clear his mind and rushed toward his brother, uneasily holding the Sais in his hands.

"How much do ya wanna bet that Raph will win?" Leo said to Donnie, an unamused expression on his face.

Donnie had the same blank look on his face as he leaned tiredly against the railing. He hadn't slept well last night because he was too sore from yesterday's training. He had to fight Leo, and he had lost after the third round. His arms were aching and the pain kept him up all night. So he was half asleep as he answered his older brother.

"Um… whatever ya wanna bet… I'm too tired…" he mumbled with his face buried in his arms.

Leo smiled at him. "Ya gonna be okay?"

Donnie nodded. "Yeah… just need some sleep."

A loud yelp erupted in the dojo and they glanced to see Raph pinning Mikey to the floor with his arms against his shell. Mikey was flailing his arms frantically, shouting out things that Raph was probably making him say. Leo looked over at Crystal. She was giggling at the scene, and he couldn't help but smile in amusement. He still didn't understand why Raph still didn't like the little girl. What was it about her that he didn't like? She was a perfectly well-behaved toddler, never cried much, hardly asked for much besides affection, and was the sweetest little thing. What did he have against her?

He turned his attention back to the fight and sighed when he saw that Mikey was now getting up.

"What am I doing wrong?" Mikey asked loudly, obviously confused.

"Well, for one, you aren't very confident in your attacks. And second, you're just a big wimp!" Raphael laughed, earning an actual glare from the immature brother.

"Well," the orange-masked turtle grinned. "How's this for confident?!" He then threw one of the Sais at Raphael. Raph gasped and ducked just in time to dodge the incoming sharp object. He literally felt the wind brush the top of his head. He sent Mikey a cocky grin before he turned to look where it went.

"Ha! You missed!" But that grin was wiped clean off of his face. His eyes grew huge and his heart rammed in his chest when he saw where it had hit. Everybody gasped at the same time he did. It was lodged into the wall, but it was merely an inch above Crystal's head. She was looking up at it in curiosity.

"Holy shell! Crystal!" he shouted loudly, and he rushed over to the little girl while his voice echoed through the dojo. The dojo had fallen so silent that it was almost eerie, but Leo and Donnie hurried to Raph's side within seconds, praying that it hadn't hurt her at all. She hadn't screamed, so she hadn't been hit by it thankfully. Mikey was shocked into freezing and his jaw hung.

"Oh my gosh… Is she okay?" he finally whispered, his eyes wide and his shoulders slumped. The other Sai dropped from his hand and hit the floor with a _clang_. He didn't want to hold it any longer than he had.

Raph held the little girl close to his chest, rubbing her back. She had no clue that she had been so close to being hit by his own fighting tool, and she hugged him back in confusion. He felt his heart race in his chest, and he felt his anger starting to go up like a thermometer the summer heat, his breathing becoming shallower and his eyes narrowing. He had to keep from tightening his grip on her any more than he had. He began to picture what she probably would have looked like after the accident if that Sai had shot only an inch lower. God he couldn't stand the thought, it made him growl.

He lifted his head from her shoulder and stood back up. He carefully shoved her in Leo's arms, surprising the leader before he spun around and started to march toward the nervous, orange-masked turtle still standing in the fighting ring. Mikey began to stutter, and he could feel his own body trembling. He saw the rage in his brother's eyes, and began to prepare himself mentally and physically for the worse that was probably going to happen in mere seconds. He knew that he wasn't going to get himself out of this one.

"You… you… you idiot! Michelangelo, what the crap were you thinking?! You could've killed her! Can you be any more stupid than that?! What in God's name told you to throw that freaking thing?! Are you out of your mind?!" His rage burst through the roof, his blood pumped through his body, and as he loomed over Mikey, the smaller turtle shrunk in his spot. His eyes grew wide and his teeth began to chatter. He had never seen his brother so angry before. No, this was worse than anger. This was even worse than rage. But was there even a word to describe him at this moment? No… probably not…

"R-Raph… I d-didn't mean to! It was a-an accident!" Mikey tried to speak clearly, but his voice cracked and he whimpered in fear.

But the bigger ninja didn't let off. His body grew hot from anger and his eyes bared knives into the smaller ninja. "Don't you have any sense at all?! You 'didn't mean to'?! It wouldn't even have mattered if you meant to or not if she was dead!"

Leo frowned calmly at his younger brother as he roared at Mikey. "Raphael! Calm do-,"

"NO! I am not going to calm down! Not until this idiot learns his lesson!" Raph snapped, not even taking his eyes off the young male in front of him. Mikey gulped and he took in shaky breaths.

Leo saw that there was no calming him down by voice, so he turned to his purple-masked brother and nodded. Donnie nodded in return and let Leo place Crystal in his arms, bringing her close to him when she was secured in his hold. He watched as his older brother marched over to the other two, his face showing sternness and concern

"Raph, please calm down. You don't know what you're doing! It wasn't his fault!" He put his arm between the two, hoping to snap his raging brother out of his blind madness. But it seemed to do little, because Raph only shoved Leo's arm away.

"Not his fault? NOT HIS FAULT?!" Raph literally screeched, and Mikey cringed at his outburst. "Don't you realize that HE was the one who just about hit Crystal with that thing?!"

"Since WHEN did YOU care about Crystal?!" Leo interjected loudly, glaring at him and clenching his fists. He felt his own anger rising within him, but he kept it down as best he could as he gazed into Raph's fiery eyes. Mikey had now crept away from the two as quietly as he could and was approaching Donnie.

The genius offered a soft expression to his shaken up brother. "You okay, bro?"

Mikey sighed and nodded, looking at Crystal in Donnie's arms. "Yeah… I think so… Is she okay? I mean… can I…?"

Donnie smiled sympathetically and nodded, letting Crystal reach out and cling to the younger turtle when he took her. Feeling relieved that she was okay, the young ninja sighed in relief and hugged her tighter. Crystal hugged his face, but then turned her attention to the other turtles arguing. She may have been young, but she knew that something was wrong by the sound of their voices, especially Raph's. She didn't know why they were mad, but she figured that it was pretty bad.

Raph blinked suddenly, falling oddly silent at the question Leo had asked. They stared at each other for a moment, breathing heavily. But it was a short moment and he then turned his anger toward his older brother, almost forgetting about the reason he was angry in the first place. Now he was just raging at anything in general. Leo realized that this was probably not going to end well, but he was relieved that Mikey wasn't taking the heat.

"Who wouldn't get mad about this?! Is it wrong for me to be angry at him? What am I supposed to do, hug him and tell him 'hey, maybe next time you'll still be lucky and not kill her'? What do you take me for, Leo? An idiot?"

"I take you for an immature being who needs to get over his temper! And second of all, you have never showed any care towards her anyway, so why would you even bother in being concerned? You never have been before!" Leo watched as his brother's face flushed in anger, and he could feel his own face doing the same. His fists trembled at his sides, but he remained in the spot where he stood.

Raphael shouted out loudly in anger and frustration. "Gah! Why am I even arguing with you?! You wouldn't understand!"

"I would try to understand if you would just calm down and tell me why you are so angry! God, you're being so immature!"

Raph was about to snap at him again, but his eyes glanced toward his other two brothers with Crystal. They were watching them in concern and almost fear. But Crystal was looking at him with fear only, her head shrunk close to her shoulders and her little hands clinging to Mikey's neck. Then he saw a tear slip down her cheek, and heard a sob come out of her. Mikey looked at her, and then hugged her, mumbling to her and trying his best to calm her down. He saw that she was hurt, maybe not by him, but at the fact that everybody wasn't in the best of moods, especially since he and Leo were yelling at each other. She almost looked like the way she had when he had found her inside of Mikey's chest in his room.

At that moment, Raphael took in a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. He closed his eyes, forcing his tense muscles to stop shaking. His fists relaxed, and he let his arms go limp at his sides. His breathing became slower, and he looked down at his three-toed feet. Leo relaxed himself, and lifted a hand to rest it on his brother's shoulder in a comforting way, but before he made contact with him, Raphael slapped his hand away with his own.

"Forget it…" the younger male muttered, shaking his head and walking past him. He began to make his way towards the exit.

Crystal watched him for a moment, but then grunted, wanting down out of Mikey's arms. Reluctantly, he gently let her on the ground and immediately she ran after the red-masked ninja. As he walked, his eyes glued to the ground, he heard her feet hit the ground as she clumsily followed him. He felt something wrap around one of his fingers, and he halted in his tracks and turned his gaze to the little toddler at his sides. She looked up at him in confusion as to say, "Why are you angry?" He wished he could tell her in a way that she could understand. He sighed heavily, and bent down. She held up her arms and he picked her up, standing back up straight and holding her close to him. He then walked out of the dojo. On the way out, he bumped into Splinter, who wore a concerned expression and frowned at him expectantly.

"Ask Leo…" Raph mumbled, walking past him slowly and not making eye contact. As he walked away, Crystal looked over his shoulder and waved at the large rat. "Bye bye…"

Splinter blinked slowly, waving at her with a few fingers but still remained confused as to what had just happened. He had heard the shouting, but he hadn't heard what it was about. His mind putting pieces of the puzzle together, seeing how Raph hugged the little child so closely and how she had evidence that said she had been crying, he assumed that whatever had happened revolved around Crystal.

He sighed, and entered the dojo, and saw the condition of the others. Letting the silence fall on him softly, he began to examine the scene. Leo was standing with his back to him, not having moved from where he had been standing when he had argued with his brother. He hung his head, but was standing straight as if slightly tense. Donnie was speaking softly to Mikey, who was sitting on one of the benches with his face rested in his hands. Donnie continued to rest his hand on his brother's shoulder hoping to calm his crying sibling down. Everybody seemed shaken up.

"Leo… please come here." he said softly, calmly.

Raphael had gone to his room, and was sitting on the bed with Crystal sitting across from him with Spike in her lap. She petted the non-mutant turtle gently, rubbing his head and talking to it about things that didn't make sense. He actually wondered if she was talking English at all, either way, seeing her interact with Spike made him smile slightly, thanking God that she wasn't dead or hurt. He knew that he was supposed to be mad at Mikey. He should've pounded him when he had the chance… But then he shook his head, thinking that it was actually ridiculous. Yes, his younger sibling could be a pain, but he never meant to hurt anybody. He was just… being Mikey… He was the youngest, the most immature.

Then again, he was being pretty immature about this situation. Yes, he had the right to be upset about what happened out of fear for the girl's safety, but he knew that it wasn't right to have acted the way he did to his youngest brother. But that thought came to his mind too late, for he had already took his anger out on him verbally. He felt pretty miserable about what had happened, and now he was a bit tired from it all.

"I'm sorry, kiddo… I am so sorry…" he sighed, but was caught off guard by a yawn.

Crystal sat Spike down on the bed and patted his shell. She looked up at Raph and stared at him for a long while, her eyes blinking a few times and her head cocked slightly to the side. He stared back at her, his expression blank and his eyes slowly blinking every now and then. Then she crawled up to him and wrapped her little arms around his neck, closing her eyes and sighing in content. Raph sat there with her hugging him and his mind slugging along. His eyelids began to droop, and he let out a long and tired breath that he hadn't known that he'd been holding.

"Um… Raph?"

He opened his eyes and looked at the doorway. Mikey stood with his arms hanging at his sides, a fearful look in his eyes and his shoulders slumped as he didn't look his older brother in the eye. Raph blinked slowly, considering saying something a little harsh to him, but instead he kept his tongue tied in a knot and remained silent. That is, before he greeted him.

"Sup…?" he huffed, offering the smallest of smiles. Crystal looked at the orange-masked turtle at the doorway and smiled. She settled on Raph's lap and looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

Mikey smiled nervously. "Not much… Had a bit of training, almost got someone killed, was afraid for my life and got yelled at… the usual."

"Don't say that. It's not the usual."

"Well I am the idiot of this bunch right? The younger ninja laughed, not a real laugh exactly, but something close to it.

Raphael sighed. "Look… Mikey, I want to apologize about everything that I said… I guess I was… I…" He looked down at the toddler in his lap, who looked back up at him in return. "I guess I was just worried about her."

"Worried? Dude, try overprotective." The younger ninja chuckled, and Raph gave him a curious expression.

"W-Was I really being overprotective?" he inquired.

Mikey plopped down on the bed beside his older brother, smiling brightly at him with shining eyes. But then that expression changed into one that was more timid.

"And... Yeah… I'm sorry, too… I should've been more careful about how to use that thing. Forgive me?" he asked, his smile disappearing and his eyes looking almost like puppy ones. The red-masked brother smiled, and held up his hand and nodded.

"Yeah, I will. Will you do the same?"

Mikey studied his hand for a moment, and half expected to be slapped or something close to so. But Raph showed no sign that he would, and it was actually a big relief. So he nodded, grinning in a child-like fashion and clasping his hand around Raph's, their hands locking in a shake.

"Yeah. So… we cool?"

"We're cool." Raph grinned, resting his hand on his knee, which Crystal put her hand on. He looked down at her and smiled, and she smiled back.

Mikey stared at the two for a moment, and then he smiled crookedly. It was so odd seeing his older brother, Raph at that, being so protective over such a small and defenseless kid. He had to admit, he expected him to be upset earlier, but he had not thought that he'd be shouting at the top of his lungs in his face about how big of an idiot he had been. He was thankful that Leo had been there, or he would have been beaten up.

"Ya know… you being a real bad and tough ninja that could easily knock a guy out, being like that around a little kid really might ruin your reputation." he said, watching his brother grab Crystal's hand.

Raph seemed to chew over that bit of information, a little smile forming on his features as he chuckled. Mikey was right, it might ruin his reputation as a fearless and fierce fighter. But what could he say? He might have a hard shell, but that doesn't mean he's invincible mentally and physically.

"Well," he started, "Actually, I think that knowing that I have to protect her… It just might make me twice as a bad ninja turtle to mess with."

At this Mikey laughed, grinning from ear to ear and crossing his legs. "True that, bro! Very true!"


End file.
